The present invention concerns an axle unit, in particular for use in trucks.
Axle units are known from the prior art insofar as an axle tube, which is often a rigid axle, is mounted on or secured to the frame of the truck so as to be sprung or damped via a suspension arm arrangement, wherein one or a plurality of vehicle wheels is mounted rotatably on the axle tube. The connecting region between the axle tube and the longitudinal suspension arm here is a portion of the truck's chassis suspension which is particularly heavily loaded, and in particular subject to periodic load changes. It has proved problematic in particular to absorb the torsional moments occurring on the axle tube in the connections to the longitudinal suspension arm such that the weld seams produced there are not damaged. In the past, many attempts have been made to adapt the connecting region between the longitudinal suspension arm and the axle tube to these high loads. Many axle units are known from the prior art which have had to be over-dimensioned and hence have a very high weight of the axle unit, as a consequence of the design with greater safety against fatigue breakage or similar damage to the connecting region between the axle unit and suspension arm unit. There is therefore a need for improvement in the area of the connection between the longitudinal suspension arm and the axle tube of a truck wheel suspension, in order in particular to reduce the weight of the axle unit and at the same time achieve sufficient strength values and allow simple production.
The object of the present invention is to provide an axle unit which can be produced easily while having particularly height strength values of the connecting region between an axle tube and a suspension arm element, in particular to resist the torsional moments acting in the axle tube, while having a low component weight.